Tulsa Shock/Sooners in the WNBA

[badger]

Sooner alums Ashley Paris and Nyeshia Stevenson were both cut from the Phoenix Mercury.

With one more roster spot cut to go before Friday (all teams must be down to 11 players by Friday), Amanda Thompson is still with the Tulsa Shock.

The Chicago Sky have 13 players on their roster, with both Abi Olajuwon and Courtney Paris still listed (again, two have to be cut by Friday)

I originally held out hope that somehow we'd have a few more OU alums in Tulsa by the end of cutting period, but from interviews, I just don't see Nolan Richardson working that way.

If anyone still cares about her, OSU's Andrea Riley is among 15 players still listed with the LA Sparks.

And now, before anyone else can post it, Family Guy's take on me posting this:

[ouleaf]

Wow....had absolutely no clue Nolan Richardson was coaching a WNBA team. I learned something today.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I guess CP3 could be his Oliver Miller

[Boomer.....]

I heard that Courtney got cut but Abi made the Chicago Storm.

[badger]

Wow....had absolutely no clue Nolan Richardson was coaching a WNBA team. I learned something today.

They've been giving him tons of coverage here in Tulsa, too. He's bringing back his "40 minutes of hell" scheme and even did something that every other WNBA team dropped by now: Open tryouts. Players paid like $100 to be able to get the chance to make a WNBA roster. They had like 50 show up for it.

Also, remember Marion Jones? If you don't, she a disgraced former sprinter that made "designer steroid" known as "The Clear" famous. She returned her Olympic medals and is now returning to basketball (she won a college national championship with UNC as a point guard before dedicating her time to sprinting).

Long explanation short, Marion Jones was the first declared member of the Tulsa Shock...well, after Nolan Richardson, of course. As soon as the Shock announced the move, they pretty much right away announced that Nolan would be coach.

I, too, heard that CP3 was getting (or already has gotten) cut, but it's obviously not official yet, or they're remove her from the official site.

Putting all WNBA jokes aside, you will not find a more competitive league for professional athletes to make a roster, except maybe the NFL. 11 roster spots on 12 teams. Hell, there's more womens basketball players than that in the Big 12! It is truly an accomplishment to make a roster.

Your reward? $34k-$55k salary.

[Boomer.....]

Your reward? $34k-$55k salary.

That and being nationally know by dozens of fans.

[badger]

That and being nationally know by dozens of fans.

I love womens basketball... in college. I still think that the WNBA is watching grass grow. I think all of you OU football fans who aren't really into the NFL know what I mean. We love our alma maters, but it's harder to love pros.

[ouleaf]

I, too, heard that CP3 was getting (or already has gotten) cut, but it's obviously not official yet, or they're remove her from the official site.

Could have been a good player, but never seemed to have the will get in shape and expand her game. That's why she didn't win any titles at OU either.

Putting all WNBA jokes aside, you will not find a more competitive league for professional athletes to make a roster, except maybe the NFL. 11 roster spots on 12 teams. Hell, there's more womens basketball players than that in the Big 12! It is truly an accomplishment to make a roster.

I'm not sure competitive is the correct word there. When you take in the higher skill level it takes to be a pro in all the other leagues as opposed to the WNBA, it just doesn't seem as competitive to me. It's definitely one of the more limited or restricted leagues for sure in terms of total roster spots available....I'll give you that.

Your reward? $34k-$55k salary.

Well the WNBA isn't exactly a thriving business model. They can't have much in the way of sponsorships, TV contracts, ticket revenues, or merchandise sales. So I'm betting teams really can't afford to pay more.

.

[badger]

CP3 was cut by the Chicago Sky, but I heard they kept Abi on the roster. No word yet on who the last Tulsa Shock cut will be. Hope it isn't Amanda Thompson.

Contrary to popular belief, CP3 really did lose a lot of weight at OU, but most of that I heard was before she played a game at OU. The conditioning from when she stepped foot on campus to her first collegiate game caused her to drop about 30 pounds, if I recall correctly.

Alas, winning a lot of All-American, rebounding and player of the year awards might have caused her to step back conditioning and focus on other aspects of the game at college. Regardless, if her playing days are over, I think she would be a phenomenal coach and I would love to see her back on OU's sideline next to Sherry, just like when she got in foul trouble. Good luck, Courtney!

[badger]

Amanda Thompson made the final cut!

[JohnnyMack]

[badger]

Yeah, Nolan looked funny on the sideline

That ESPN chick that analyzes womens basketball (both college and WNBA) seemed impressed that our crowd showed up early to the first game. We won't tell her that getting into the BOK Center for an event is a logistical nightmare and you NEED to show up early to avoid standing outside in the rain (oh yes, it has been raining here a lot lately!) for an hour.

So, we lost our opener at home. We were apparently down 17 in the second quarter, only to pull it to even at the half.

Marion Jones, who apparently is getting a lot of European press, only played a few minutes and actually made Sportscenter for her debut - a play where a Shock post player missed a layup, Jones got the rebound and passed it to her, only for the same post player to miss... and then they showed Minny make a shot, then they flashed the score and that was the extent of their WNBA coverage for the day

Amanda had the second-fewest minutes on the team, next to Marion.

Not sure what the future holds for either of them on this team, but they are the only players I'd be able to recognize at this point, so I'd really prefer to see them play more often

[Scott D]

I hate you Tulsa for killing my former wnba franchise...but not as much as I hate the Davidson family.

[diegosooner]

I hope amanda hangs on!

[badger]

Mkay, dudes, I have another Shockingly Shocking Shock update - we actually won a game.

Linky

One of our two Sooners in the WNBA, Amanda Thompson, logged about 11 minutes and got four points, two rebounds and even an assist!

(if you are all on Marion Jones watch like the national media, if my math is correct, Amanda logged more minutes in this one game than Marion has logged in all of the Shock's games so far... all three of them. lulz).

If you all want to track Abi, you can go to the Chicago Sky's official Abi page here and see that she has appeared in two preseason and one regular season game thus far. In the game that counted, she had seven minutes and two points... oh, and an assist

Finally, because I know that none of you are interested in the WNBA (admittedly, myself included) and are wondering when the eff I'm going to finally do the "hottest of OU womens basketball" poll that I promised you all, have a Futurama clip poking fun at the WNBA:

[badger]

The Shock now have its first home win of the season.

Link

The Shock are (is???) now 2-3. This places Tulsa at the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

We are hovering just above 4k in attendance right now. No telling how the summer months will effect interest. The televised games here suck. There is no picture quality on whatever they're using, so we might as well be watching an NES game of Double Dribble where you can't really tell which player is which, but you can tell the different colored unis.


There are a few games on ESPN2, so that helps, but honestly, I would much rather watch an OU team play womens basketball.

[badger]

I am sorry to report that the WNBA is now without any Sooner representation.

Abi got cut late last week. Link here

Amanda Thompson was cut last month by the Tulsa Shock. Link here

A few others were with teams in the preseason, including CP3 with the Chicago Sky, Nyeshia Stevenson and Ashley Paris with the Phoenix Mercury.

Alas, the WNBA is once again Sooner-less... not that any of us were watching anyway.

[ouleaf]

Fold....please fold. There is no point for this, or Women's BBall in general to exist any longer. It is teh awful.

I am so glad Dallas does not have a WNBA franchise.

[badger]

They are definitely doing something wrong if they're not capitalizing on the success at the collegiate level. It reminds me of when they tried to start up a womens soccer league after the World Cup dream story (Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain... you all remember it and you know it!) but couldn't retain the interest level... even a fraction of it.

[texaspokieokie]

trivial: i saw nolan richardson in vegas, several years ago.

to succeed financially, they need to recruit the best looking women & junk the clown uniforms. JMHO